One of the prettiest and coolest looking plants out there is Passionflower, Passiflora incarnata. It’s a plant that grows easily in tropical climates and produces long tendril vines that love to climb and climb and climb, with the tendrils grabbing and capturing anything in its reach. It’s a site to watch as the plant emanates this very life like energy as it can change by the day as its tendrils reach out to the heavens and all that surrounds it.
Thankfully, Passionflower can be grown in colder climates as well as warmer climates. It doesn’t overwinter however unless you’re in the warmer zones like zone 6 and above. Otherwise, for those that live in the colder regions like I do, we get to glance at the plants’ beauty during the warmer months only, but only if we start it by seed very early in the year, or purchase it as an already started plant.
The Medicine of Passionflower for Repetitive Thoughts
Now as amazing as the leaves are, the flower of Passionflower is like a mesmerizing spiral of radiance. It always stops you in your tracks, grabbing your attention for at least a moment to fade away into the beauty and wonderment it brings.
I equate Passionflower to a dream catcher but rather dreams, it’s a thought catcher. Passionflower is an herb that catches your worries and excessive thoughts that stir through your mind like a pinwheel on a windy day. Thinking that spirals with no end or beginning, otherwise known as spiraling or repetitive thoughts.
Often the thoughts that make it hard to do something can often occur at night when all you want to do is just sleep! The great thing is that’s when the medicine of Passionflower really shines. This is because this plant helps soften those thoughts, unwinding them, so they can finally float away and leave you free from their repetitive takeover.
An anxious mind is often filled with those spiraling thoughts that seem to hover over the mind like a thick cloud. There’s often a constant worry that takes place over and over. The mind can fill with worry thinking about every potential aspect or occurrence for whatever event or moment in question pops into the mind. I like to think their constant thinking of the worries in the world may solve the problems of the world one day, for there are not too many results their mind shall miss.
The Gift of Excess Thinking
For some people even without an anxious mind, this type of thinking is the norm, especially those considered to be air signs or those with a lot of airy energy. I am myself an air sign, and wow that kind of thinking can have you drifting away without a heartbeat of a notice as you wander the world on a journey without even leaving your seat.
A drifting mind is often considered a curse, something bad, something that makes you unproductive and labeled with terms like ADHD, inability to focus, lazy, wanderer, drifter, or absent minded. Especially during the younger ages when someone is in school, it can be heavily frowned upon if you can’t sit in your seat, perfectly still, focusing on the wall in front of you, for hours upon hours at a time.
When you stop to think about it though… who really doesn’t wander in their thoughts from time to time? And in all honesty… why is wondering really so bad?
Yes, I know the need to focus at times, it’s not like you can sit and daydream all day at work, but often the drifting of the mind is a natural way for the mind to relax when there is too much going on, while also allowing your intuition to build and grow.
The Problem With Not Letting Your Thoughts Percolate
Often when you don’t let the mind escape for a few moments often enough the mind will decide to escape at the most imperfect times for you. I mentioned the thinking before bed we all can dread, but what about when driving a car? Have you ever been driving a distance and realized you were just off somewhere in your mind while driving (and completely not paying attention to driving!)? It happens pretty frequently, and luckily our minds can multitask, but that often happens when you don’t give yourself enough space (and time) in your life to let the mind take a break and relax.
There truly is a gift in letting the mind wander now and then, and allowing inspiration to come. For those excess thoughts are not always bad, sometimes they are new ideas or pieces from within your subconscious to inspire you toward some new adventure, where all you need to do, is listen.
Working With Passionflower
Sometimes however, the racing thoughts just get unbearable, and often without knowing what to do to shut them off, it can be difficult to escape the spiraling thoughts and everyone deserves a moment of quiet and rest now and then. That’s when I like to call upon Passionflower, for it works so beautifully for that purpose.
For medicinal purposes, the flowers, leaves, and tendrils of Passionflower are used. Usually, this plant is worked with in tincture form, but I enjoy making a flower essence for a similar purpose to shift away the busy repetitive thoughts often stirred by rampant stress and never ending worries of the world.
Passionflower is also an amazing ally for sleep with no surprise for often too many thoughts are what keep the sleep fairies at bay ♀️
The Spider Web Effect, AKA, Thought Catcher
I view Passionflower as a plant that has a connection to the spider for spiders are known for creating these huge intricate webs that trap everything that walks upon it, like a dream catcher. With Passionflower I relate it to doing the same thing, but instead, it traps your excess repetitive thoughts. So I call it the catcher of life’s woes. Working with the plant internally via tincture or flower essence form is great for this, but you can even work with the plant without consuming anything.
Simply take a glance at the beautiful flower with all of its spiraling rays. (I often see them as spiral in shape when they are really wavy lines). You can also print out a picture of this gem and place it on your nightstand or your wall. Then, whenever you need to, let your mind wander around her “spiral” and leave what excess worries you don’t need in her “web”.
See if you can take a moment today to traverse the purple lines of this radiant bloom and see what thoughts you can leave amongst the catcher of life’s woes.
